Happy Gotcha Day, Breckin & Trystan!

It is a hard story to tell, but an important one to say the least. No Child should have to go what my boys did prior to moving in with our family.

One year ago today, Larry and I received a call at about 6pm. It was a CPS rep looking for a placement home for 2 little kids under 6. They had no idea whether they were boys or girls or their exact age. The only information that we received was that they were severely beaten.

Larry and I in a heartbeat took them in. At about 10:30 pm, CPS showed up with 2 little boys ages 6 and 4 who were malnourished and severely beaten. They were starving, filthy and black and blue all over. They showed up with a pair of sweatpants on and a bag of muddy clothes that were taken off of them at the hospital that didn’t fit anyhow. We bathed them and got them settled down for the night. They ate by shoving into their mouths, they asked if we were going to put them in cages to sleep. What we did… We hugged them and told them that they were safe. After getting them to sleep, Lar and I went to bed and prayed for these children.

Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid . . . for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. – Deuteronomy 31:6

The other kids in the family stayed up late last night to make Breckin and Trystan this poster!

One year later, our adoption has been finalized for 2 months. They still “shovel” their food, but we are working on “tasting” it. We have good and bad days…. There have been locks put on cabinets and alarms on doors. We have to do a room check for missing kitchen items (and sometimes dad’s tools). We have offered them a Christian home to teach them what they need to know including loving Jesus. We are growing as a family and look forward to the future.

Today is Breckin and Trystan’s Gotcha Day. We are thrilled to have them in our household. We LOVE you boys and can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives being your family. We are offering you love and safety.

Happy Gotcha Day – Here was one of your “firsts” this year!

We have had the honor of spending a year of the “firsts” with us…. First lost tooth, first Halloween and Thanksgiving (Yes, turkeys are THAT BIG, Trystan), First Christmas, New Years, Valentines, Easter, 4th of July, Birthdays with parties. First movie and camping trip, First road trip, first bubble bath!

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 1 Corinthians 13:8